Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:56 am
Re: Feedback on Solar
Hello VerdE, Urban Forager & ShortFuses,
I am heartened to see that three out of four of us think in a similar vein. Hopefully we remain the thoughtful, caring majority that we are. Nobody said that the issues we face are easy. Far from it, they remain perhaps some of the greatest challenges we as a species face right now. I want to state explicitly that I believe that the acions of men impact the planet directly, and as such, one man's actions can have a positive or negatve effect on others since we all have to live on it. To think of "me" like many egoists do, is detrimental to society as a whole, and diminishes the value of our "Common wealth", to quote from a book I recently read , "The Conservationist Manifesto" I believe that the planet is being over run by endless growth and is modified as never before.Since the private sector has done nothing but nurture and foster this unbridled growth, we need to somehow act pluralistically to effect changes. I do NOT like big government, big deficits, loss of privacy, individuality, or other personal freedoms. Frankly, in an aside, I believe that the government of this country, even if it is "the best in the world", is no longer truly an effective tool for representing what's best for the citizenry. It IS too big, and it is now responsive more to the powered interests of money and big business. Politicians are nothing more than professionals in the sense that they do not tend to leave office once in. The goal is to get elected, and run for re-election. To do so, they cow tow to the lobbyists with the deepest pocket and most influence in mustering the vote and ignore the needs of the less powerful citizenry. Period. I don't care if it is Obama or Bush, they all seem to fit the category to an extent. I still see Obama as a better man, more willing to at least try and articulate more directly the issues that Bush et al tried to sweep under the rug. Global warming, nope. DUH! Mankind has tried, and failed, numerous times to govern fairly. The freedoms that Shortfuses refers to were fine two hundred years ago here in America. The country was not trashed then, the forrests were vast and full of trees, the oceans and rivers teamed with fish as described in early explorer's accounts, the sky was so filled with birds that they described flocks in the millions. Where are the fish and the geese today. I don't see them. Land was also open to those that disdained societal constraints. If town life wasn't your gig, you could always grab the rifle, frying pan and a wool blanket and ride off to some distant part of the fronteir. Those days are gone. Cameras watch us, jet contrails fill the sky no matter where you are, malls and housing developments blight and erode the land, endless media blast you to buy buy buy more crapola.. There is no place left to go, so it would be wise of us all to decide how to curtail growth, to preserve resources that are not valued by the almighty dollar, while working toward making our impact on the earth as soft as possible. We also need a new political structure that is more workable in size. I believe we need to return the government to the local constituencies and downsize the country. We can still be states, united, but more reactive to local needs first.
I am heartened to see that three out of four of us think in a similar vein. Hopefully we remain the thoughtful, caring majority that we are. Nobody said that the issues we face are easy. Far from it, they remain perhaps some of the greatest challenges we as a species face right now. I want to state explicitly that I believe that the acions of men impact the planet directly, and as such, one man's actions can have a positive or negatve effect on others since we all have to live on it. To think of "me" like many egoists do, is detrimental to society as a whole, and diminishes the value of our "Common wealth", to quote from a book I recently read , "The Conservationist Manifesto" I believe that the planet is being over run by endless growth and is modified as never before.Since the private sector has done nothing but nurture and foster this unbridled growth, we need to somehow act pluralistically to effect changes. I do NOT like big government, big deficits, loss of privacy, individuality, or other personal freedoms. Frankly, in an aside, I believe that the government of this country, even if it is "the best in the world", is no longer truly an effective tool for representing what's best for the citizenry. It IS too big, and it is now responsive more to the powered interests of money and big business. Politicians are nothing more than professionals in the sense that they do not tend to leave office once in. The goal is to get elected, and run for re-election. To do so, they cow tow to the lobbyists with the deepest pocket and most influence in mustering the vote and ignore the needs of the less powerful citizenry. Period. I don't care if it is Obama or Bush, they all seem to fit the category to an extent. I still see Obama as a better man, more willing to at least try and articulate more directly the issues that Bush et al tried to sweep under the rug. Global warming, nope. DUH! Mankind has tried, and failed, numerous times to govern fairly. The freedoms that Shortfuses refers to were fine two hundred years ago here in America. The country was not trashed then, the forrests were vast and full of trees, the oceans and rivers teamed with fish as described in early explorer's accounts, the sky was so filled with birds that they described flocks in the millions. Where are the fish and the geese today. I don't see them. Land was also open to those that disdained societal constraints. If town life wasn't your gig, you could always grab the rifle, frying pan and a wool blanket and ride off to some distant part of the fronteir. Those days are gone. Cameras watch us, jet contrails fill the sky no matter where you are, malls and housing developments blight and erode the land, endless media blast you to buy buy buy more crapola.. There is no place left to go, so it would be wise of us all to decide how to curtail growth, to preserve resources that are not valued by the almighty dollar, while working toward making our impact on the earth as soft as possible. We also need a new political structure that is more workable in size. I believe we need to return the government to the local constituencies and downsize the country. We can still be states, united, but more reactive to local needs first.
